November 19, 2009

San Diego State Athletic Director Resigns

San Diego State athletic director Jeff Schemmel resigned Thursday after an investigation revealed he requested university reimbursement for a rental car and gas he used to drive from Atlanta to Point Clear, Ala., to have a tryst with a married woman.

The investigation was launched after John Lineberger, a resident of Alabama, had subpoenaed Schemmel's university travel records. The action was part of divorce proceedings between Lineberger and his wife, Carolyn, who said under oath in deposition testimony that she had multiple sexual trysts with Schemmel in Dallas-Fort Worth and Point Clear.

Schemmell, 55, has been married for 32 years and has two grown sons. He was hired in 2005 by San Diego State on the strong backing of headhunter Chuck Neinas.

Schemmel had been a senior administrator at Minnesota when it was embroiled in a massive academic fraud case, one of the most notorious scandals in NCAA history. An independent investigation identified Schemmel as one of four administrators responsible for a lack of institutional control, but he somehow kept his job until Neinas found him a soft landing spot at San Diego State.